1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a seat belt assembly for high chairs and, more particularly, to a high chair having a seat, legs and a tray and having a seat belt assembly including a fixed crotch strap and a pair of waist straps coupled at a common buckle.
2. Description of the Background Art
A high chair is an item of functional furniture for children which has been in use for many years. A high chair is used to assist a young child in eating and in learning to eat and to help parents feed a child. Normally, a high chair includes a seat for the child. The seat is supported by extended legs. A tray is located in front of the child for his or her food.
A relatively recent advance in high chairs is the incorporation of seat belts to retain the child in proper position on the seat while eating. Seat belts are formed of waist straps secured at their remote ends to the seat, generally to the back or bottom or adjacent their juncture. Seat belts reduce the possibility of a child inadvertently or deliberately sliding down out of the seat, beneath the tray. A more recent advance in high chair seat belts is the incorporation of a crotch strap. A crotch strap normally couples permanently to the central front portion of the seat and extends upwardly for coupling with the waist straps or buckle at a central area. Unfortunately, all known seat belt arrangements are designed so that the waist straps may be used without the crotch strap. This is a shortcoming of prior known devices which causes safety problems for children in high chairs.
Today high chairs represent the third leading cause of accidental deaths for children. Such deaths normally occur when the seat belts are not utilized or seat belts are utilized without a crotch strap. In such situation, a child may slide downwardly, intentionally or inadvertently, and catch his or her chin on the tray. The weight of the body pulling downwardly will cause strangulation resulting in severe injury or death.
The shortcomings of known high chairs and strap arrangements are evidenced by a large number of commercial devices in use today as well as a large number of patents issuing on devices attempting to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,849 to Smith discloses the use of a safety belt arrangement for use with a high chair. In addition, seat belt arrangements are shown in a wide variety of environments other than high chairs. Note U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,709,558 to Jakob; 3,834,758 to Soule; 3,910,634 to Morris; 4,302,049 to Simpson and 4,650,252 to Kassai. Lastly, a large number of patents show a wide variety of buckle arrangements. Note U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,150,464 to Tracy; 4,559,679 to Downey; 4,569,106 to Lovato; 4,662,040 to Terrell; 4,791,709 to Fildan and 4,793,032 to Crowle.
As illustrated by the background art, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to improve seat belts for high chairs. No prior effort, however, suggests the present inventive combination of component elements arranged and configured as disclosed herein. Prior seat belts for high chairs do not provide the benefits attendant with the present invention. The present invention achieves its purposes, objects and advantages over the prior seat belts for high chairs through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, through the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, and through the use of only readily available materials and conventional components.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved high chair comprising a seat with a back component and a bottom component for receiving a child thereon; a plurality of tubes for strengthening the seat and extending on opposite sides of the seat for forming arm rests; a plurality of legs for supporting the seat at a proper height; a tray removably positioned on the arm rests in front of the seat above the bottom component; and a seat belt assembly comprising a pair of generally horizontally extending waist straps each coupled at its remote end to a portion of a high chair seat with a buckle part at its front end, a crotch strap permanently secured to a front central extent of the seat portion and having a free front end, and a main buckle permanently attached to the free end of the crotch strap with the main buckle also having a pair of attachment mechanisms for removably receiving the buckle parts of the ends of the waist straps.
It is a further object of the present invention to strap children in high chairs with an arrangement of separable waist straps and a permanent crotch strap to preclude child injury as caused by the child sliding downwardly beneath the high chair tray.
It is a further object of the present invention to permanently attach the ends of a crotch strap to the high chair at one end and to the buckle at the other end.
It is a further object of the invention to increase the safety of high chairs by improved seat belt constructions.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a further understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.